Over the course of this election, we’ve monitored key toss-up congressional races, fact-checking false claims and distortions of the facts on a host of topics. But some issues have loomed larger than others.
Common Themes in the 2026 Midterms
Issues: One Big Beautiful Bill Act
Democratic Ads Exaggerate GOP Law’s Impact on Medicare
Democratic ads in multiple congressional races are accusing Republican candidates of “gutting Medicare,” voting for “huge cuts to Medicare” and “cheering on Trump’s attack on Medicare.” Several ads cite President Donald Trump’s major domestic policy law, the One Big Beautiful Bill Act. But the law’s changes to Medicare are narrow in scope and affect relatively few beneficiaries.
Misleading GOP Attacks Over Taxes on Tips, Overtime, Social Security
In congressional races around the country, Democrats find themselves under attack in political ads for allegedly opposing the popular tax cuts for tips, overtime and older Americans that were part of Republicans’ One Big Beautiful Bill Act. Many of the candidates themselves say they support those particular provisions.
GOP Ad Attacks Ossoff’s Vote Against Trump Tax Cuts
A Republican TV ad cherry-picks parts of last year’s budget reconciliation law, known as the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, to overstate the impact of the law or distort Georgia Sen. Jon Ossoff’s record.
Midterm Ads Clash Over GOP Law’s Impact on Rural Healthcare
As the midterms approach, ads supporting Democrats and Republicans are making competing claims about how President Donald Trump’s signature domestic policy law will impact rural healthcare.
FactChecking Trump’s Midterm Convention Speech
In a nearly two-hour speech at the first Republican midterm convention, President Donald Trump promised to pay Americans if Republicans won, and he repeatedly said communists could take over Congress if they didn’t, among other familiar claims.
Collins Did Not ‘Support’ OBBBA’s Medicaid Cuts, as Democratic Ad Claims
Sen. Susan Collins was one of three Republican senators who voted against passing the One Big Beautiful Bill Act in July 2025, and she cited the legislation’s many changes to Medicaid as the main reason. But an ad from a Democratic outside group falsely claims she “voted to support Donald Trump on the largest Medicaid cut in history.”
One Big Beautiful Bill Not (Yet) Driving ACA, Medicaid Declines
Multiple Democratic lawmakers have claimed that 8 million Americans have lost healthcare coverage as a result of the Trump-backed budget reconciliation bill that passed a year ago, known as the One Big Beautiful Bill Act. But experts told us the enrollment declines seen to date are largely due to other factors — including other Trump administration policies.
Kennedy Denies the One Big Beautiful Bill Act’s Spending Cuts to Medicaid
The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office estimated that the One Big Beautiful Bill Act will reduce federal Medicaid spending by more than $900 billion over a decade. But in a series of congressional hearings last month, Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. misleadingly claimed that “there are no cuts to Medicaid” as a result of that 2025 law.
FactChecking Trump’s Rapid-Fire Prime-Time Address
President Donald Trump blitzed through a prime-time address to the nation on Dec. 17, but while short, Trump’s speech contained a number of inaccurate or misleading claims, many of which he has repeated in public speeches for months.